Electronic hi-hat cymbal
There is disclosed an electronic hi-hat system having a movable upper housing separated from a stationary lower housing by a spring, with the upper housing having a simulated cymbal attached thereto. The upper housing and simulated cymbal connect through a central vertical rod to a lower foot pedal, with the entire structure being supported by a stand on which the lower housing mounts. The lower housing has a Hall effect sensor mounted thereon, and the upper housing has a permanent magnet aligned with and arranged to reciprocate vertically alongside the Hall effect sensor. The position of the magnet on the movable upper housing, and thus the simulated cymbal, is detected by Hall effect sensor which generates signals that can be transmitted, processed, and amplified into simulated high-hat cymbal sounds.
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This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C § 119 (e) to provisional application No. 63/563,633, filed on Mar. 11, 2024.
NOTICE OF COPYRIGHTS AND TRADE DRESSA portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. This patent document may show and/or describe matter which is or may become trade dress of the owner. The copyright and trade dress owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright and trade dress rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND FieldThis disclosure relates to electronic hi-hat cymbals.
Description of the Related ArtSince the 1920s, a traditional acoustic drum set typically has a pair of metal (e.g., bronze) cymbals collectively called the hi hat. These two cymbals are suspended on a hi hat stand facing in a concave mirror image from each other. The bottom cymbal of a hi hat stays stationary, while the top cymbal can be moved up and down using a foot pedal. Modulating the force and timing of the step changes the impact of the two cymbals and thus the sound generated. Depending on how hard a hi-hat is struck and whether it is “open” (i.e., pedal not pressed, so the two cymbals are not closed together), a hi-hat can produce a range of dynamics, from very quiet “chck” sounds, done with merely gently pressing the pedal to very loud crashes (e.g., striking fully open hats hard with sticks).
Electronic hi-hat cymbals are sold which don't rely on contact between acoustic bronze cymbals. A 2-piece electronic hi-hat consists of two separate components—the top cymbal and the bottom cymbal-often both equipped with sensors. These sensors detect the drummer's movements and translate them into electronic signals, which are then transduced and amplified, producing a realistic and dynamic sound.
Despite numerous examples, the electronic hi-hat devices in the art and on the market fall short in terms of quality of sounds produced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe electronic hi-hat system disclosed herein is an assembly of two relatively moving parts coupled with electronics. A movable upper housing is separated from a stationary lower housing by a spring, with the upper housing having a simulated cymbal attached thereto. The upper housing and simulated cymbal are connected through a central vertical rod to a lower foot pedal, with the entire structure being supported by a stand on which the lower housing mounts. The lower housing has a Hall effect sensor mounted thereon, and the upper housing has a permanent magnet aligned with and arranged to reciprocate vertically alongside the Hall effect sensor. The mounting positions of the magnet and Hall effect sensor may be reversed, though the sensor comprises a circuit board which is easier to connect to associated electronics on the stationary housing. The position of the magnet on the movable upper housing, and thus the simulated cymbal, is detected by Hall effect sensor which generates signals that can be transmitted, processed, and amplified into simulated high-hat cymbal sounds.
Throughout this description, elements appearing in figures are assigned three-digit reference designators, where the most significant digit is the figure number and the two least significant digits are specific to the element. An element that is not described in conjunction with a figure may be presumed to have the same characteristics and function as a previously-described element having a reference designator with the same least significant digits.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe rod 44 extends upward beyond the top of the stand 42 and is fixed to an upper housing 46 to which an upper cymbal 48 mounts. The cymbal 48 is a simulated cymbal as it does not actually strike a lower cymbal to make an acoustic sound. Indeed, in this embodiment there is no lower cymbal as the sound produced does not depend on the acoustic sound generated by the impact between two physical cymbals. Typically, the cymbal 48 is made of a polymer, though any lightweight material may be utilized. Alternatively, bronze or other metallic materials may be used, with the simulated cymbal being a solid disk, perforated, or generally formed from any rigid materials and with any configuration available on the market. The simulated cymbal just does not need to strike a paired cymbal to make sounds.
An upper nut 50 may be fastened to a top end of the rod 44 to hold the cymbal 48 against the upper housing 46. The upper housing 46 moves up and down with the rod 44 relative to a lower housing 52, carrying the cymbal 48 with it. The lower housing 52, in turn, is fixed with respect to a bulkhead 54 mounted to the top of the stationary stand 42. The upper housing 46 and cymbal 48 thus move up and down with respect to the bulkhead 54 on which the lower housing 52 is mounted.
The upper housing 46 and the lower housing 52 formed the main components in a transducer assembly of the hi-hat cymbal assembly 40, and are shown in perspective in
The inner cavity 74 of the upper housing 46 is configured to fit downward over the tubular main body 60 of the lower housing 52 and be retained thereon. More particularly, the cavity 74 closely surrounds the tubular main body 60 of the lower housing 52, and as the upper housing 46 is pressed downward onto the main body of the lower housing 52 a lower circular rim 78 around the inner cavity 74 contacts the outer ramp surfaces 64 of each of the tabs 62. Downward movement of the upper housing 46 cams the cantilevered tabs 62 inward to permit the upper housing to descend down around the lower housing main body 60. At some point, the three tabs 62 flex back outward into the vertical slots 76 in the tubular cup 72 of the upper housing 46. In this way, the upper housing 46 is captured by the lower housing 52, but may move up and down by virtue of the tabs 62 within the elongated slots 76. This arrangement also prevents relative rotational movement of the upper housing 46 on the lower housing 52. The movable upper housing 46 has a down position limited by the stationary lower housing 52. More particularly, the horizontal flange 70 come into contact with the wider bulkhead 54 which stops further downward movement of the upper housing 46 and cymbal 48 mounted thereon.
With reference back to
The Hall effect sensor 86 comprises a circuit board and may be obtained off-the-shelf from various vendors, such as a DRV5056 Unipolar Ratiometric Linear Hall Effect Sensor from Texas Instruments, of Dallas, TX. The DRV5056 Hall effect sensor has a detection range is in the region of 18 mm. As the magnet 84 translates alongside the Hall effect sensor 86, the sensor generates varying electronic signals. By calibrating these electronic signals and converting them using a processor and an amplifier (not shown), distinctive desirable hi-hat sounds can be produced. The mounting positions of the magnet 84 and Hall effect sensor 86 may be reversed, though the sensor comprises a circuit board which is easier to connect to associated electronics if mounted on the stationary housing.
In one example, a piezo-electric sensor 90 is added to the stationary housing 52′ or anvil of the assembly. The piezo-electric sensor 90 may comprise an annular disk-shaped element with a flexible central portion supported around the perimeter. The central flexible portion, or diaphragm, is bent slightly when the movable housing 46 descends and slams into the rubber buffer 82 provided for cushioning. The central portion of the piezo-electric sensor 90 may be only 1 mm thick and needs to flex only a fraction of a millimeter to output a change in voltage. This small voltage change can then be read by the associated electronics to give an indication of exactly when and at what velocity the pedal was closed. Consequently, the piezo-electric sensor 90 provides a highly reliable and accurate signal defining when the pedal hits the “closed” position, and how fast or hard the pedal is closed.
Likewise, a force sensing resistor (FSR) sensor 92 may be added to the stationary housing 52′. The FSR sensor 92 is similar to the piezo-electric sensor 90 in that it senses small changes in pressure. A typical FSR sensor 92 consists of two small mylar sheets, one of which has silver interdigits printed on it and the other a resistive ink. When the resistive ink presses against the interdigits, a circuit is formed, and the resistance of the circuit varies according to the pressure. Consequently, as the pedal of the hi-hat assembly is pressed down, a voltage is derived by the FSR sensor 92 that is proportional to the pressure. The voltage generated by the FSR sensor 92 is an accurate point at which the pedal is closed, but also provides a wide controller signal for any “after pressure” exerted on the pedal. That is, there may not be enough range in the output of the Hall effect sensor 86 after the pedal is closed to get a desired signal for the aftertouch sound. The FSR sensor 92 gets squeezed after the pedal is fully closed and provides additional control for this aftertouch sound.
As seen in the cross-section section of
As is well known in the art, and schematically illustrated in
Additionally, though not shown, piezo sensor and position switches may be incorporated into the playing surface as per current designs. The number of position switches varies, and could be as few as two (bell and edge) and as many as 5 (bell, hi bow, med bow, low bow & edge).
The rod 108 extends upward beyond the top of the stand 102 and is fixed to an upper housing 114 to which an upper cymbal 104 mounts. The cymbal 104 is a simulated cymbal as it does not strike a lower cymbal to make sound. Typically, the cymbal 104 is made of a polymer, though any lightweight material may be utilized. An upper nut 106 may be fastened to a top end of the rod 108 to hold the cymbal 104 against the upper housing 114. The upper housing 114 moves up and down with the rod 108 relative to a lower housing 110, carrying the cymbal 104 with it. The lower housing 110, in turn, is fixed with respect to a simulated lower cymbal 112 mounted to the top of the stationary stand 102. A coil spring 116 is mounted around the rod 108 between the movable upper housing 114 and the stationary lower housing 110 to bias the upper housing upward. The upper housing 114 and cymbal 104 thus move up and down with respect to the lower housing 110 and simulated cymbal 112, simulating an acoustic cymbal assembly such as in
The annotation in
In
In
Finally,
In
Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and procedures disclosed or claimed. Although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments.
As used herein, “plurality” means two or more. As used herein, a “set” of items may include one or more of such items. As used herein, whether in the written description or the claims, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”, “involving”, and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”, respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims. Use of ordinal terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements. As used herein, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.
Claims
1. An electronic hi-hat cymbal, comprising:
- a vertical cymbal stand;
- a stationary housing mounted at an upper end of the stand;
- a foot pedal mounted to a lower end of the stand configured to be depressed by a user's foot and having a return spring, the foot pedal being connected to a vertical rod that extends up through a bore in the stand to an upper portion positioned above the stationary housing;
- a movable housing mounted to the upper portion of the rod wherein vertical movement of the rod causes the movable housing to move adjacent to the stationary housing, and the movable housing moves upward from a down position limited by impact between the movable housing and the stationary housing;
- wherein one of the movable housing and stationary housing has a permanent magnet thereon with opposite poles vertically spaced apart and the other of the movable housing and stationary housing has a Hall effect sensor thereon configured to generate an electronic signal, with the magnet and Hall effect sensor being aligned so as to reciprocate vertically alongside each other when the foot pedal is depressed;
- a return spring positioned to bias the movable housing upward;
- a simulated cymbal mounted to a top end of the rod that moves vertically with the movable housing; and
- at least one additional electronic positioning sensor that generates an electronic signal upon impact between the movable housing and the stationary housing.
2. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 1, further including a simulated lower cymbal mounted to the stationary housing.
3. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 1, wherein the stationary housing has a tubular main body and the Hall effect sensor is mounted in a sidewall thereof, and the movable housing has a tubular cup that surrounds the tubular main body, wherein the magnet is mounted in a sidewall of the tubular cup radially outward from the Hall effect sensor.
4. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 3, wherein the Hall effect sensor is mounted for manual vertical adjustment relative to the stationary housing.
5. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 3, wherein the stationary housing has a lower bulkhead at a bottom end of and extending radially outward from the tubular main body, and the movable housing has a lower flange at a bottom end of and extending radially outward from the tubular cup, wherein the flange contacts the bulkhead to define the down position of the movable housing.
6. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 5, further including at least one compressible buffer positioned between the flange and the bulkhead to cushion impact therebetween.
7. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 5, wherein the flange comprises a foot formed of a compressible material which cushions the impact between the movable housing and the bulkhead.
8. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 6, wherein the flange comprises a foot formed of a compressible material which cushions the impact between the movable housing and the bulkhead.
9. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 1, wherein the at least one additional electronic positioning sensor is selected from the group consisting of a piezo-electric sensor and a force sensing resistor sensor, and is mounted to an upward facing surface of the stationary housing that the movable housing impacts.
10. An electronic hi-hat cymbal, comprising:
- a vertical cymbal stand;
- a stationary housing mounted at an upper end of the stand having a tubular main body and a lower bulkhead at a bottom end of and extending radially outward from the tubular main body;
- a foot pedal mounted to a lower end of the stand configured to be depressed by a user's foot and having a return spring, the foot pedal being connected to a vertical rod that extends up through a bore in the stand to an upper portion positioned above the stationary housing;
- a movable housing mounted to the upper portion of the rod having a lower flange at a bottom end of and extending radially outward from a tubular cup having a downward cavity that surrounds the tubular main body, wherein vertical movement of the rod causes the tubular cup to move adjacent to the tubular main body, and the movable housing moves upward from a down position limited by impact between the movable housing and the stationary housing;
- wherein one of the tubular cup and tubular main body has a permanent magnet thereon with opposite poles vertically spaced apart and the other of the tubular cup and tubular main body has a Hall effect sensor thereon configured to generate an electronic signal, with the magnet and Hall effect sensor being aligned so as to reciprocate vertically alongside each other when the foot pedal is depressed;
- a return spring positioned to bias the movable housing upward; and
- a simulated cymbal mounted to a top end of the rod that moves vertically with the movable housing.
11. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 10, further including a simulated lower cymbal mounted to the stationary housing.
12. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 10, wherein the Hall effect sensor is mounted in a sidewall of the tubular main body of the stationary housing, and the magnet is mounted in a sidewall of the tubular cup of the tubular main body radially outward from the Hall effect sensor.
13. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 12, wherein the Hall effect sensor is mounted for manual vertical adjustment relative to the stationary housing.
14. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 10, wherein the stationary housing has a lower bulkhead at a bottom end of and extending radially outward from the tubular main body, and the movable housing has a lower flange at a bottom end of and extending radially outward from the tubular cup, wherein the flange contacts the bulkhead to define the down position of the movable housing.
15. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 14, further including at least one compressible buffer positioned between the flange and the bulkhead to cushion impact therebetween.
16. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 14, wherein the flange comprises a foot formed of a compressible material which cushions the impact between the movable housing and the bulkhead.
17. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 15, wherein the flange comprises a foot formed of a compressible material which cushions the impact between the movable housing and the bulkhead.
18. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 10, further including at least one additional electronic positioning sensor that generates an electronic signal upon impact between the movable housing and the stationary housing.
19. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 18, wherein the at least one additional electronic positioning sensor is selected from the group consisting of a piezo-electric sensor and a force sensing resistor sensor, and is mounted to an upward facing surface of the stationary housing that the movable housing impacts.
20. An electronic hi-hat cymbal, comprising:
- a vertical cymbal stand;
- a stationary housing mounted at an upper end of the stand;
- a foot pedal mounted to a lower end of the stand configured to be depressed by a user's foot and having a return spring, the foot pedal being connected to a vertical rod that extends up through a bore in the stand to an upper portion positioned above the stationary housing;
- a movable housing mounted to the upper portion of the rod wherein vertical movement of the rod causes the movable housing to move adjacent to the stationary housing, and the movable housing moves upward from a down position limited by impact between the movable housing and the stationary housing;
- wherein one of the movable housing and stationary housing has a permanent magnet thereon with opposite poles vertically spaced apart and the other of the movable housing and stationary housing has a Hall effect sensor thereon configured to generate an electronic signal, with the magnet and Hall effect sensor being aligned so as to reciprocate vertically alongside each other when the foot pedal is depressed;
- a return spring positioned to bias the movable housing upward;
- a simulated cymbal mounted to a top end of the rod that moves vertically with the movable housing; and
- a simulated lower cymbal mounted to the stationary housing.
21. An electronic hi-hat cymbal, comprising:
- a vertical cymbal stand;
- a stationary housing mounted at an upper end of the stand;
- a foot pedal mounted to a lower end of the stand configured to be depressed by a user's foot and having a return spring, the foot pedal being connected to a vertical rod that extends up through a bore in the stand to an upper portion positioned above the stationary housing;
- a movable housing mounted to the upper portion of the rod wherein vertical movement of the rod causes the movable housing to move adjacent to the stationary housing, and the movable housing moves upward from a down position limited by impact between the movable housing and the stationary housing;
- wherein one of the movable housing and stationary housing has a permanent magnet thereon with opposite poles vertically spaced apart and the other of the movable housing and stationary housing has a Hall effect sensor thereon configured to generate an electronic signal, with the magnet and Hall effect sensor being aligned so as to reciprocate vertically alongside each other when the foot pedal is depressed;
- wherein the stationary housing has a tubular main body and the Hall effect sensor is mounted in a sidewall thereof, and the movable housing has a tubular cup that surrounds the tubular main body, wherein the magnet is mounted in a sidewall of the tubular cup radially outward from the Hall effect sensor;
- a return spring positioned to bias the movable housing upward; and
- a simulated cymbal mounted to a top end of the rod that moves vertically with the movable housing.
22. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 21, wherein the Hall effect sensor is mounted for manual vertical adjustment relative to the stationary housing.
23. The hi-hat cymbal of claim 21, wherein the stationary housing has a lower bulkhead at a bottom end of and extending radially outward from the tubular main body, and the movable housing has a lower flange at a bottom end of and extending radially outward from the tubular cup, wherein the flange contacts the bulkhead to define the down position of the movable housing.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Sep 17, 2024
Date of Patent: Mar 18, 2025
Assignee: Guitar Center, Inc. (Westlake Village, CA)
Inventors: David Simmons (Suffolk), Jeffrey R. Laity (Pasadena, CA)
Primary Examiner: Jeffrey Donels
Application Number: 18/887,796